(The following are excerpts from a 1948 sermon Dr. Harry D. Althouse preached at the Massanetta Springs Bible Conference.  Found in our cornerstone, the sermon seems especially appropriate as we begin a new year.)

“Our Master’s life was a busy life.  On one occasion, He restored the sight of a blind man and referred to this act of mercy as an opportunity to glorify God.  The opportunity for service, He pointed out, must be grasped when it presents itself.  ‘I must do the works of Him that sent me while it is day.  The night cometh when no man can work.’ – John 9:4

“The dominant mood in America is nostalgia.  Gripped with fear, hysteria and anxiety, finding real happiness beyond our reach, we look lovingly and longingly to other days.

“We are laboring under a false delusion.  The ‘good ole days’ have never been as good as we picture them to be. 

“A hundred years ago not a pound of coal had been burned in this country.  No iron cook stoves were used.  Men and women undressed and went to bed in a temperature colder than our barns and woodsheds.

“To too many church members Christianity is a memorial rather than a challenge and an adventure.

“There are also many people who live in the future tense.  It is folly to count too much on tomorrow.  Tomorrow we will be kinder, tomorrow we will accept Christ, tomorrow we will cast out some besetting sin, tomorrow we will saddle a dream and ride to the mountain top.

“The responsibilities of today cannot be put off until some happy tomorrow.  There are many things which should and could be done today if we had the courage, the faith and the vision to do them.

“One of the cleverest devices that the devil ever invented was the idea that the Kingdom of God can be put off until tomorrow.  If we are going to live, we must live today.  If we are going to speak out for Christ, we must speak today.  If we are going to act, we must act today.

“We have improved our world but failed to improve man.  And now we possess miraculous machines and horrifying engines of destruction, but the world still lives in spiritual darkness and we are afraid.  There is no hope for mankind except in spiritual regeneration.”  People of understanding must work together quickly and with all their might, ‘for the night cometh when no man can work.’”

(If you would like to read all of Dr. Althouse’s 1948 sermon, let me know.)